As our current Independent Police Auditor, Judge LaDoris Cordell steps down, "we are entering arguably the most fluid moment in recent history for San José police-community relations," says Raj Jayadev. Read the op-ed he wrote for the Mercury News calling for greater civilian oversight in San José.

De-Bug was in Ferguson and neighboring municipalities last week as their courts faced national pressure from a scathing Department of Justice report. But we found the problem is not just in Ferguson. Read the reflection from Raj Jayadev, and view the photo profiles by Jean Melesaine, to meet the people who have bore the brunt of a predatory courts, and are becoming the movement to bring the injustice to an end. This piece first appeared in the Huffington Post.

Raj Jayadev writes that while "this new national inflection point regarding police accountability has led to calls for diversifying police forces, equipping officers with body cameras, and reforming departments, it is also an opening to examine and transform the system in its totality."

On December 10th, De-Bug/ACJP premiered a new documentary series chronicling the stories of families and public defenders who are working to turn "time served" into "time saved" at a launch party in San Jose, CA. The series, which will unfold with stories from across the country, captures in moment footage along the family's journey. This episode features Lisa Coulter, who had done 18 years of a life sentence and was potentially eligible for release at the time of our recording. Click here for more on Time Saved or the Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project.

As communities across the country express outrage over the grand jury decision not to indict Darrell Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, another relevant case from the area is proceeding to trial. Sylvester Caldwell, the Mayor of Pine Lawn, a neighboring town to Ferguson has been indicted on federal charges of extortion. The following is a video from Pine Lawn and Ferguson residents describing the political corruption in these small municipalities that allowed for the racially targeted police violence to fester. The footage was captured when De-Bug producers were in the Ferguson area just two weeks before the shooting death of Michael Brown. For more context regarding wrongful arrests in North St.Louis County, please read the report released by our friends at the ArchCity Defenders.